So – What Are Hobbits, Again? (A Quick Review)J.R.R. Tolkien actually described himself as something of a hobbit, so let's let him define what a hobbit is in his own terms:I am in fact a Hobb...

Gandalf is the one who literally plucks Bilbo from his cozy little home and tosses him into a load of adventure. Clearly, Gandalf has some notion of what Bilbo's adventures are going to mean to the...

Balin was one of Thorin's companions on the day he happened to be outside the Lonely Mountain when Smaug arrived. He's also friendlier with Bilbo than most of the other dwarves. Balin is so amused...

Smaug is a "most especially greedy, strong, and wicked" (1.123) dragon who comes flying out of the North to attack the Lonely Mountain a couple of generations before The Hobbit takes place. He's at...

Now, in our "Character Analysis" of Bilbo, we mentioned that he is our hero but not a hero. In other words, he's our main character, even though he's not a traditional leading man. Bard is the reve...

The thrush, another helpful bird living near the Lonely Mountain, brings the ancient raven Roäc to speak to Thorin. Apparently, Thorin can understand raven speech, and used to have frequent ch...